Own goal! Sir Bob guilty on football stadium lobbying
NO POLITICIAN has emerged from relative obscurity to champion the rule of law more than barrister MP Sir Bob Neill who, as Remainer-in-chief, has noisily led the charge against the Government’s Brexit Bill.
However, he’s been noticeably less forthcoming while under investigation by Parliament’s watchdog over some rather whiffy advocacy.
I can reveal the Tory knight has been found to have breached Commons rules by the Standards Commissioner for failing to declare a financial interest while lobbying for multi-million-pound planning applications in his constituency.
As well as trousering an extra salary for chairing the Commons Justice Select Committee, Sir Bob is also on the payroll of the Substantia Group, a one-stop shop for developers. The firm is run by Terry Pullen – boss of Essex nightclub the Sugar Hut – better known as the club of choice in TV’s The Only Way Is
Essex. Since 2016, Pullen has paid Sir Bob, 68, £50,000 for ‘strategic consultancy advice’.
The MP for Bromley and Chislehurst wrote glowing letters of support on Commons notepaper to London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Bromley Council for planning applications from Substantia clients without declaring his paid role.
These included a luxury hotel and football stadium for Cray Wanderers FC, which got the green light last summer despite concerns about Sir Bob’s links to Substantia raised by blogger Dr Alex May.
On top of a monthly stipend from Substantia, Sir Bob received a £10,000 bonus after Khan dropped his opposition to the stadium and its £2.5 million sale went through. He declared this in the Register of Interests as a fee for ‘additional strategic and corporate advice’.
Last night the former Planning Minister said he has formally apologised for breaking the Code of Conduct. No doubt he’ll now consider which housing charity to donate his £10,000 bonus to.